


I could have done better

by EaSnowPw



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Natasha Romanov, Gen, Hangman, Humour, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 01:31:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaSnowPw/pseuds/EaSnowPw
Summary: "I could have done better."Silence. All the Avengers stopped talking, waiting for the bomb to explode."What did you just say?" Tony asked."You heard me," Stephen said, arrogance dripping from every word.ORThe Avengers play Hangman.OR"That's unfair," Stephen complained."The amount of doctorates in this room is unfair," Sam pointed out.





	I could have done better

"I could have done better."  
  
Silence. All the Avengers stopped talking, waiting for the bomb to explode.  
  
"What did you just say?" Tony asked.  
  
"You heard me," Stephen said, arrogance dripping from every word.  
  
Bruce took a step forward, looking like he was going to step in, but Natasha stopped him.  
  
"Really? You join my team, come into my house, sleep under my roof, eat my food and drink my water... And you insult my work?" Tony asked, approaching the other menacingly. The sorcerer stood his ground. Tony gave him the pen. "Show me."  
  
"With pleasure. I mean, Tony, Pi, really? Have you even met me?"  
  
"Let's see what you come up with then." Tony nudged Bruce. "I'm relying on you, Brucie, if he gets weird."  
  
Stephen's eyes glinted dangerously.  
  
"One word," Bruce reminded.  
  
"I know." He tapped the pen to his chin, humming in thought, then began writing.  
  
L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ L  
  
His handwriting wasn't what it used to be, but the Cloak helped steady his hands.  
  
"Any chance it's a very long LOL?" Peter asked from the ceiling.  
  
"No. Is O your first try?" Stephen asked, smirking.  
  
"No!" Tony quickly snapped. "I say we go for I. Medical terms always have I."  
  
"I is a safe bet," Bruce confirmed. A few others nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Very well." Stephen filled it in.  
  
L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I _ _ _ _ L  
  
"S?" Clint asked.  
  
"Might as well."  
  
Stephen wrote S on the board, then drew the hang.  
  
"No other L's?" Tony pressed.  
  
"None."  
  
"We could try for vowels," Natasha suggested. "A, E. Latin has many vowels."  
  
"It's true," Bruce piped in, "but keep in mind that this word probably doesn't have much letter diversity."  
  
"It could," Peter suggested.  
  
"We wouldn't know it until we fill it in," Sam confirmed. "X?"  
  
"Really, Sam?" Steve asked. He looked like he was about to facepalm.  
  
"Y?" Bucky suggested.  
  
"Z?" Peter joked.  
  
"Guys, buckle up. This is serious!" Tony admonished.  
  
"Fine. A."  
  
"Is that your final answer?" Stephen inquired, smirking.  
  
"Yes. No?" Tony looked at his team. Everyone shrugged. "We have tries left. Yes."  
  
L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I _ _ _ A L  
  
"Woo! We got 2 letters down."  
  
"Almost all the alphabet left," Sam muttered.  
  
"Ok, umm... U?"  
  
Stephen drew a head.  
  
"Let's go with Nat's E," Steve suggested.  
  
"Okay, Capsicle. E."  
  
L E _ _ _ _ E _ I _ _ E A L  
  
"And... enough vowels," Tony announced. "Bruce, you've been quiet."  
  
"I'm thinking of all diseases I know with L."  
  
"Keep going. Rhodey?"  
  
"R?" the other man suggested.  
  
Stephen drew a body.  
  
"Do I draw the arms and legs one at a time?" he asked.  
  
"No. We die like men," Tony replied.  
  
"This is why I never play anything with you," Rhodey muttered.  
  
"I will not be defeated," Tony declared. Stephen's smirk was rubbing him the wrong way.  
  
"Proceed," the doctor instructed.  
  
"O?" Steve suggested.  
  
"No. We're done with vowels."  
  
Stephen's lips twitched.  
  
"O," Natasha pressed. "There's totally an O."  
  
"Oh, putting those spy skills to good use. O, Merlin!"  
  
L E _ _ O _ E _ I _ _ E A L  
  
"B?"  
  
Legs.  
  
"T?"  
  
L E _ T O _ E _ I _ _ E A L  
  
Just the arms left.  
  
"Bruce?"  
  
"Meningeal?"  
  
"Yes," Natasha confirmed.  
  
Stephen's smirk vanished.  
  
One letter left.  
  
"C?"  
  
"No, wait!" Tony bellowed. "Any other ideas?"  
  
"C works, I guess."  
  
"Nat?"  
  
"Don't think it's C."  
  
"That's unfair," Stephen complained.  
  
"The amount of doctorates in this room is unfair," Sam pointed out.  
  
Stephen turned towards the board.  
  
"Let me know your final answer."  
  
"Z."  
  
"S."  
  
"W."  
  
"Carbon."  
  
"PETER!"  
  
"P?"  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"K?"  
  
"K is fancy."  
  
"K."  
  
"K."  
  
Stephen nodded and reached to the word...  
  
"Yes!"  
  
... to write...  
  
"We won!"  
  
P. LEPTOMENINGEAL  
  
He then drew the arms and announced  
  
"You hang."  
  
Tony threw a clipboard at him, though everyone else laughed.  
  
Sam was next. He defeated everyone with SAUCEPAN.

“You guys are pathetic,” he announced as he returned to his seat.

Bucky wrote a word in Russian and lost to Natasha. Peter almost won, but Stephen had guessed the organic compound he’d written.

“Underoos, why didn’t you help us against doctor Magic?” Tony complained.

“He promised to take me and Ned to Disneyland this weekend.”

“I can take you to Disneyland!”

“Yeah, but the flight still takes a few hours. Portals are instant.”

Tony collapsed in his chair.

“Betrayed by my own flesh and blood…”

Rhodey placed a glass of water in his hand, laughing.


End file.
